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Late, but appreciated: Napoleon: Total War demo out now

2010-03-10 22:05:25

Almost let this one slip past me, to be frank. I know a portion of you guys are way into the Total War games, and with the demo for Napoleon recently going up on Steam (grab it here), there's a reason for the rest of us to be a wee bit pumped. Maybe.

I mean, if you were really that into the series, you would already own this latest installment. Right? For me personally, these games always go way over my head and feel overwhelming -- of course, that was several years back, so I'm speaking in generalities now.

Anyway, enough rambling; the demo's got the Siege of Toulon in addition to the Battle of Ligny. My history is more than a little fuzzy, so I ought to seek the aid of one Brad Nicholson and his infinite knowledge of past events.

Napoleon Total War demo released on Steam [Big Download]

OnLive launches on June 17

2010-03-10 21:05:26

OnLive will be released on June 17 for the PC and Mac, the same week as E3 2010. The cloud gaming service promises to offer instant streaming of PC games from various publishers such as Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, 2K Games and many more. The service will run for $14.95 and additional subscription plans will be announced closer to the launch.

OnLive will be available in the United States and the first 25,000 people that sign up for the service will get three months of access for free. Some of the launch titles will include Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age: Origins, Assassin's Creed II, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, Borderlands and Metro 2033. The MicroConsole TV Adapter that will connect OnLive to your TV will be announced later in the year.

Despite everything I've heard about the OnLive service, I'm still not sold on the idea. How about you? Have any of you been in the beta for OnLive and if so, what did you think of it?

GDC: Monkey Island 2: SE coming, MI: SE hitting PS3 & Mac

2010-03-10 20:05:43

An exciting bit of news for fans of the Monkey Island games -- so exciting, in fact, that I can hardly believe I managed to fit it all into the headline. I have just received word via carrier pigeon from our main man at GDC, Brad, that Monkey Island: Special Edition is hitting PlayStation Network and Mac.

Furthermore, The Secret of Monkey Island 2: Special Edition is a thing that's going to happen. It seems Brad could only fit so much on the little paper that was attached to the courageous bird, unfortunately.

Here's what we got to work with: direct control of Guybrush Threepwood, never-before-seen art, developer commentary, new hair for the leading man (presumably better-looking hair), and it's releasing on Xbox LIVE Arcade, PlayStation Network, PC, Mac, and iPhone this summer. Hot!

Capy bringing Clash of Heros to XBLA and PSN in HD!

2010-03-10 19:05:43

Capybara is bringing Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes to Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network later this year. This isn't just going to be a straight forward port of the DS game as Capy is giving Clash of Heroes the HD treatment!

The game will receive all sorts of awesome updates to it, such as hand-drawn artwork replacing the 16-bit style sprites and scenes. Clash of Heroes HD will also feature four-player versus or co-operative modes. A number of complaints about the DS version, such as how you couldn't go back to previous areas, will be addressed in the HD version as well.

We'll be getting a look at Clash of Heroes HD this week at the Game Developers Conference. If you have any questions for Capy, be sure to leave a comment below so we can ask them at our meeting tomorrow!

GDC 10: Clash of Heroes Battling on XBLA, PSN [IGN, via GameSetWatch]

Capy bringing Clash of Heros to XBLA and PSN in HD!

2010-03-10 19:05:38

GDC 10: Clash of Heroes Battling on XBLA, PSN [IGN, via GameSetWatch]

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light coming this Summer

2010-03-10 19:05:38

New details have surfaced for Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light. The latest Lara Croft adventure will be out this Summer for the PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade and PC. The new game offers about six hours of gameplay and will sell for $15.

Destructoid will be checking out Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light later this week at the Game Developers Conference. In the mean time, you should jump over to the Destructoid Forums and harass Keir, the head community manager from Eidos and Square Enix. He's bringing the gospel of Lara Croft to anyone that wants to hear about it!

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light launching this summer for $15 [Joystiq]

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light coming this Summer

2010-03-10 18:05:42

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light launching this summer for $15 [Joystiq]

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light coming this Summer

2010-03-10 18:05:41

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light launching this summer for $15 [Joystiq]

Massive hammer GET: Clash of the Titans screenshots

2010-03-10 18:05:41

It's hard to say why I keep choosing to write about Clash of the Titans. It's as if a mysterious force is pulling me toward this game adaptation of the upcoming film. It looks to be a decidedly mediocre action game, and yet, I feel oddly compelled to continue posting all of the screenshots Namco Bandai sends our way.

This time -- thank goodness! -- there's actually something worth highlighting. Namely, the bigass hammer Perseus has his hands on, and the dude with part of his brain showing. Uh, what!?

I seem to remember hearing something or other about cooperative play, which could prove useful in making Clash of the Titans possibly fun to play. Beating up on frogmen sounds like an ideal way to spend an afternoon, if you ask me.

GDC 10: Move: Sexy images and quick impressions

2010-03-10 18:05:41

We are now currently in our hands-on session with Sony's newly announced PlayStation Wand motion controller. We just wanted to drop in and give our quick hands-on impressions and some pictures of the new controller.

In the gallery below you'll see the Move on top of our own Brad Nicholson's big-assed muscle. You'll also see some close-up shots of the buttons and trigger button. The ball seems smaller than I thought it would be in person. It's also light and fits in the hand nicely. It definitely has a nice grip; it feels more like a game controller than a remote control.

Right now we're not doing anything that far from a what you'd do in a Wii game. Nick is playing a bowling game now. It's not 1:1 motion, but he says it's in pre-alpha. At least it looks nice.

Enjoy our pictures in our gallery below, and look for more updates on the Move very soon. You'll also find Sony's official shots, but they won't include Brad's muscles.

Sweet potato fries FTW.

Massive hammer GET: Clash of the Titans screenshots

2010-03-10 18:05:38

This time -- thank goodness! -- there's actually something worth highlighting. Namely, the bigass hammer Perseus has his hands on, and the dude with part of his brain showing. Uh, what!?

GDC 10: A few minutes with Magicka

2010-03-10 17:05:46

Screw Barbarians -- wizards can roll hard, too. This afternoon I played a peculiar action adventure title called Magicka. In brief, it’s a ranged-heavy twist on Diablo. You play as one of four multi-colored wizards, each with the ability to cast and combine a diverse amount elemental spells via a quick-snap radial menu. For example, you can combine a lone Water and a Lightning element to make a super nasty electrical attack or couple a Water and Fire for a steam attack.

Top-down and simple, I’m unsure if the mechanics will hold up after several hours of play. My spidey sense tells me repetition could get the best of me. But Magicka is a four-player coop-focused game, meaning there’s more to the experience than just the core game. Friends don’t let friends get bored with orcs. That's a fact. Google it.

GDC: Sony reveals first PS3 Move game collections

2010-03-10 17:05:45

At its GDC press conference today, Sony revealed two PlayStation Move game collections, Sports Champions and Move Party.

Sports Champions (working title) looks to be a sports-style game collection. Two games were shown off -- "Gladiator Duel" and "Table Tennis." "Gladiator Duel" is a one-on-one third-person fighter where you'll use two PS3 Move controllers -- one for shield, and one for sword (or in this case, a large hammer) controls. The one-to-one controls allow for what looked like relatively precise movements. "Table Tennis" was exactly what it sounds like... you play table tennis.

"Move Party" (working title) is another mini-game collection that uses "augmented reality" to put players "in the game." (How's that for buzz phrases?) Players will use the EyeToy camera to take pictures of themselves for an in-game icon, using the microphone to record a voice sample as well. We saw a few mini-games, each of which put a different object in the hands of the player, who appeared on the screen holding the item. A few games were shown off -- the player uses a racket to swap flies, a paint brush to paint shapes, and a fan to blow birds into nests.

From what I'm seeing here, these look like enhanced versions of things we've already seen on the Nintendo's Wii. Sony's giving us a chance to get our hands on it later, so we'll let you know how it feels once we get it in our hands.

GDC: LittleBigPlanet with PlayStation Move

2010-03-10 17:05:45

At Sony's GDC press conference, we saw puzzles that use Sony's PlayStation Move controller in simple puzzles and platforming game play in PS3 game LittleBigPlanet. In this conceptual segment, Sackboy was thrown around with wand waving over obstacles and things like fire pits and traps. The motion controller's full rotational ability was shown while navigating through several different environments. You're able to poke, push, pick up and move environment pieces with simple gestures.

Sony talked about how they envision the game being perfect for parents that want a play a game alongside their children. No release dates or details were given at the time.

GDC: Sony reveals motion controller as 'PlayStation Move'

2010-03-10 17:05:45

Sony has officially revealed its PlayStation 3 motion controller, and it's not called the rumor "Arc." Nope, it's PlayStation Move.

The controller will be offered in a number of flavors to consumers. The Move controller itself will be offered as a standalone product for those that already own the the PlayStation Eye, which is require to use the controller. A "started kit" will also be made available, which will include the controller, the Eye, as well as a game; Sony is shooting for this kit to come in at under $100.

In its promo video, Sony showed off some of the game's software which included a wide range of games, including: a dancing title; table tennis; a bare-knuckles gritty fighting game; a sword and shield game not unlike that seen at E3 last year (with graphical upgrades); a light-gun style shooting game; Electronic Arts' upcoming Tiger Woods title; updates for LittleBigPlanet and EyePet; and the upcoming SOCOM 4.

Also revealed is a nunchuk-style second controller Sony is calling the "sub controller." A representative from Zipper Interactive showed off the use of this secondary controller, which will be fully supported SOCOM 4.

GDC 10: An overload of Tiger Woods 11 media

2010-03-10 17:05:43

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 is set to come out on June 8 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii. To get you ready for the next installment of the golf series, we have a ton of new screens and a couple of videos for you to check.

The Wii version of Tiger Woods 11 will take advantage of the WiiMotionPlus attachment while the PlayStation 3 version will support the PlayStation Arc controller. And that's all I really know about Tiger Woods 11.

Hit the break for the Wii trailer of Tiger Woods 11.

GDC 10: An overload of Tiger Woods 11 media

2010-03-10 16:05:39

Hit the break for the Wii trailer of Tiger Woods 11.

GDC 10: Sony Press Event about to begin, 'Arc' is here

2010-03-10 16:05:39

Nick and I are here at Sony's press event, and when we walked in and took our front row seats, we found that we were flanked by Sony's yet-to-be-named motion controllers. We don't know what's going on yet, but we'll let you know as soon as you know.

If you want the absolute latest, follow @dalenorth and @nickchester on Twitter.

We've heard a bit from an unnamed source, actually. Before even seeing it, we hear that the device has a globe that changes colors to indicate players. There's a trigger button called the T button. There's a ring of buttons around a center button. We are hearing that the buttons are a little weird, though we're not quite sure what that means.

More to come in the next hour or so. Stay tuned.

Update: There's a game called Move Party on stage. Looks silly.

GDC 10: Kid Adventures: Sky Captain, drinking game king

2010-03-10 16:05:38

First off, outside of drinking, Kid Adventures: Sky Captain is a very pleasant Wii game to play. Imagine a motion-enabled casual flight/exploration game that gives you a warm and fuzzy Pilotwings feeling, with cute graphics and very tight control. That's what this $20 flying fantasy is. With a name like Kid Adventures, I'm sure you're not expecting much, but it is a pretty relaxing and enjoyable game.

That said, a less than savory press member (Rey) suggested that Sky Captain would make an excellent drinking game. I protested as I thought the game was very charming and innocent. But the more I played it, the more the drinking game aspect made sense. And then the real drinking started, and it all came together.

You'd have to play the game for yourself to fully appreciate how well it would work as a drinking game, but imagine a freely explorable world where you'll fly through loops and past and under obstacles to complete simple goals. Complete a goal? That's a drink. Made it through a hoop? That's a drink. Or, if I'm playing, when you hit walls, make that the drink point.

Up until I showed up, D3 had yet to show anyone the final vehicle you can unlock in the game, the UFO. I demanded that the UFO be shown, so they unlocked it, and that's really when the drinking made sense. Once you have the UFO, you can abduct cows. Seriously. Suck up cow, take a drink. In other missions, you'll fly around in your craft and take pictures of objects or animals. One has you chasing a bird. If the bird gets away, take a drink. While we didn't fully organize the rules, people were drinking and it made perfect sense. Some how it was even more funny when we found you could fly in a first-person view. Laugh, barf.

As for actual game details, Kid Adventures: Sky Captain also has sky racing, stunt flying and target shooting, all from an airplane (or UFO). There's a lot of unlockable goodies and cooperative play too. The best part is that it's controlled by a horizontally held Wii Remote. Tilting and angling the remote moves your on-screen craft 1:1. If there's anything you'll take as serious from this write-up, know that it controls beautifully. Whether you pick it up for your kids or you take my drinking game advice, Kid Adventures: Sky Captain drops for the Wii on June 15th.

GDC 10: An overload of Tiger Woods 11 media

2010-03-10 16:05:36

Hit the break for the Wii trailer of Tiger Woods 11.